Sonny Bonacio of Bonacio Construction will present to the public his plan to build a $12 million mixed-use building on the city-owned parking lot near Lillian’s Restaurant April 2.
The public meeting to discuss the sale of the lot to Bonacio came at the behest of Public Works Commissioner Thomas McTygue, who said he favors the project as the $750,000 sale would roll into funding for a larger Woodlawn Avenue parking area.
Bonacio plans to construct a $12 million mixed-use building on the .38-acre site.
It would be a serious benefit for downtown if we could combine this with the Woodlawn Avenue lot and get another 400-450 parking spaces, said McTygue. He noted that the addition of those parking spaces to the existing Woodlawn facility would bring the total number of available spaces at that location to over 500. It’s possible that the expansion could be completed as early as next year, he said.
`This would solve a parking problem that we’ve been talking about for 20 years,` McTygue said.
Bonacio has offered the city $750,000 for the lot and has plans to build a four-story building with retail space on the first floor, offices on the second floor and residential units on the third and fourth floors. Bonacio Construction was the only business to submit a plan to develop the parking lot between Lillian’s and Professor Moriarty’s.
The loss of parking at the city lot has some Broadway business owners concerned. Dawn Oesch, president of the Downtown Business Association, said many city business owners are eyeing the sale carefully because the lot’s 40 parking spaces would be lost.
The 62,000-square-foot building would return 31 of the 40 parking spaces by way of a basement garage, according to Bonacio’s proposal.
McTygue said he has scheduled to meet with members of the association on March 21 to discuss the proposal. While he understands parking is a big issue with the Downtown Business Association, he said he has not yet heard any specific complaints about the proposal from any of its members.
`There isn’t anything specific,` McTygue said of the presentation. `We’re just going to present the plan and address any questions that they may have.`
Mayor Valerie Keehn has said she would like to see if the city could get more money for the property, most recently stating she would like to see the lot listed on the eBay Web site to see if it could bring more than $750,000.
`I think there’s a lot of questions out there as to why is the city rushing to build on this very highly utilized property,` Keehn said. `I think we need to make sure whatever we do is the best thing for downtown. Even when it is full, that space offers a drop-off area for people who have elderly parents and the handicapped.`
McTygue said that the sale and project followed the bid process correctly. `We went through the proper procedures,` he said, adding that if a better offer had come in, he certainly would have endorsed it. Also, McTygue said, as far as he knew, listing municipal property for bid on the Internet is illegal.
McTygue said the $750,000 price is in line with of a property appraisal recently completed of the site.
`Plus, you have to take into account the demolition of the existing lot,` said McTygue. `That’s going to be an expense.`
The city last sold a Broadway property nine years ago. The city looked into selling the lot adjacent to Lillian’s it after a portion of the deck collapsed last spring. Approving the sale or purchase of city property requires a super majority of the council ` four out of five votes.
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